《英语沙龙》(原版阅读)︱From A to Z 蜥蜴小姐准备应聘做报社记者

阅读难度：★☆☆☆☆

从A到Z

By Cheryl Solimini Art by Rob McClurkan Narrated by Lilly Yu

本文刊载于《英语沙龙》（原版阅读）2017年10期

蜥蜴小姐准备应聘做报社记者，但要通过打字测试。于是，考前她在自己的笔记本上反复敲着那句著名的练习语：The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.因为这句话包含了从A到Z的全部26字母。可是狐狸和小狗看到了觉得这句话写得不符合实际，当记者也应该准确实事求是啊。于是，蜥蜴小姐和狐狸、狗一起想一句既能符合事实，又能把全部26个字母囊括的话。最终，蜥蜴顺利通过考试，她也有了一句非常贴切的囊括26个字母的练习句！

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Lizard typed the sentence again and again, faster and faster, into her laptop.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy—

“Hey, who are you calling lazy?” barked Dog. He had been reading over Lizard’s shoulder. “I had a busy day at the ranch. I was merely taking a nap.”

“I-I-I didn’t mean—” stammered Lizard.

“Yes, I am quick,” interrupted Fox. “But brown? Not at all. My fur has a rich, reddish hue.”

“Auburn,” suggested Dog.

“OK,” Lizard said, “but—”

“And really,” Fox continued, “jumps? I’m more graceful than that. I would say springs or even vaults.”

Lizard sighed, then typed: The graceful auburn fox vaults over the merely napping dog. She frowned. “That won’t work. It’s missing a J, a K, a Q, a W, and a Z.”

“Why does that matter?” asked Dog.

“I applied for a job at the local newspaper, The Albuquerque View,” said Lizard. “But I failed the typing test.”

“Surely the newspaper has another position that doesn’t require typing,” said Fox.

“I want to be a journalist,” said Lizard.

“What’s a journalist?” asked Dog.

“A news reporter,” Fox said.

“All the more reason you should get the facts straight,” woofed Dog.

“Accuracy is essential to journalism,” purred Fox.

“I know that,” hissed Lizard. “I also have to be able to type quickly to get my news stories in on deadline. I was just practicing my typing so I can retake the test.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog has all the letters of the alphabet.”

“So it does,” said Dog. “From A to Z.”

“How clever!” said Fox. “Too bad it’s not accurate.”

“We could help you write a sentence that’s true and has all the letters,” said Dog.

“Certainly,” said Fox. “I am quite good at such things. Start by putting quick back in.”

Lizard typed: The quick, graceful auburn fox vaults over the merely napping dog. “Getting closer,” she said. “We still need a J, a W, and a Z.”

“Why did you give Fox the best adjectives—quick, graceful—while I am ‘merely napping’?” grumbled Dog. “Say something nice—”

“But accurate,” Fox interjected.

“—about me,” growled Dog.

Lizard gave that some thought. “You like music,” she said.

Dog sat up proudly. “I do like to play jazz on my saxophone.”

“How’s this?” Lizard typed: The quick, graceful auburn fox vaults over the dog who plays jazz when he is not napping. She shook her head. “That’s not right either.”

“You lost the M by dropping merely,” Fox pointed out. “Why not describe Dog as mangy?”

Dog snarled at Fox.

“Well, you could use a bath,” said Fox.

“Why not handsome? That has an M,” Dog suggested. “And do we really need graceful? That doesn’t add anything, letter-wise.”

Lizard typed: The quick auburn fox vaults over the handsome, not mangy, dog who plays jazz when he is not napping.

“A bit wordy, perhaps,” murmured Fox. “Also, the jazz reference doesn’t seem relevant to the story.”

“Perhaps Your Royal Auburn Quickness should apply for the journalist job,” Dog snapped.

Lizard began typing furiously.

“What did you write that time?” asked Dog.

Lizard read from her computer screen. “Lizard practices typing while the mocking fox and jealous dog quarrel about adjectives. There! That uses the whole alphabet, and it is accurate.” She closed her laptop. “I have to leave now or I’ll be late for the test.”

When Lizard returned, Fox was vaulting gracefully over the fence. Dog, freshly bathed, was playing jazz on his saxophone. They stopped when they noticed Lizard.

“What was the result of your effort?” asked Fox.

“How’d the test go?” asked Dog.

“I still need to work a bit more on my typing,” Lizard admitted. “But I have another sentence to practice with.” She powered up her laptop and typed: Happily, thanks to Fox and Dog, Lizard has become a journalist for The Albuquerque View.

“Is that accurate?” yapped Fox.

“Does it have all the letters?” yipped Dog.

Lizard grinned. “It is and it does, from A to Z.”

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